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NBA: Oklahoma City Thunder will be short-handed without Serge Ibaka

Associated Press

Posted:
05/16/2014 07:44:34 PM PDT

Updated:
05/16/2014 08:41:34 PM PDT

Oklahoma City's Serge Ibaka is expected to miss the rest of the NBA playoffs because of a left calf injury.

The 6-foot-10 forward had an MRI on Friday, a day after the Thunder eliminated the Los Angeles Clippers and advanced to the Western Conference finals against the Spurs. Game 1 is Monday in San Antonio.

Ibaka was injured during the third quarter Thursday, and Thunder general manager Sam Presti called it a Grade 2 strain of the plantaris.

"I just want to express our disappointment for Serge, who, as we all know, is an elite competitor and someone that has proven to be a tremendous teammate," Presti said.

Last year, Russell Westbrook was knocked out of the playoffs with a torn knee ligament in the first round against Houston. The Thunder won that series before losing to Memphis in the next round.

During the regular season, Ibaka had career highs with averages of 15.1 points and 8.8 rebounds a game while leading the league in total blocks for the fourth straight season with 219.

Heat-Pacers: The goals were divergent: Indiana spent the season chasing the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference; Miami spent it making sure it'd be healthy for the conference finals. Sunday, the Heat plays at the Pacers in Game 1 of the best-of-seven series.

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"All year long, we've been one and two, back and forth, back and forth," Heat guard Dwyane Wade said of the conference race. "You play the whole year, it seemed like we could have just got to this point a long time ago."

Clippers: Blake Griffin says he doesn't anticipate Donald Sterling being the owner of the team at the start of next season but concedes he'd have to decide on his future with Los Angeles if new ownership weren't in place.

"I don't anticipate that being how it's going to be," Griffin said when asked whether he could continue to play for the team if Sterling were owner at the start of next season. "If it still is, I'll make a decision then. It's not something that's ideal."

Sterling was banned for life and fined $2.5 million by the league for racist remarks. His lawyer informed the league this week that Sterling wouldn't pay the fine levied against him by commissioner Adam Silver and threatened to sue the league if Sterling was not afforded due process.

Knicks: President Phil Jackson told Raymond Felton that he will look to trade him in the offseason, a league source said. Felton has two years left on a four-year, $15 million deal.